The AACS Upper School has been awarded a $27,000 grant from the United States Navy Strategic Systems Programs. The Upper School engineering teacher, Mrs. Smith heard about the grant offer while at a work function with her husband. When she overheard that the Strategic Systems Programs had excess funds to award, she jumped at the opportunity to improve the Upper School's technology and engineering departments. She submitted a proposal for the grant and that was all it took.

The funds will be used for the AutoCAD system, a computer gaming design system, and/or an electrical wiring system for the Engineering II classes. The funds will also be used to purchase various activities for a lower school STEM day and Mrs. Smith is letting the Engineering II class plan the event. It will be exciting to see what the students plan for the day.

Last school year during the Upper School STEM day, a group of students from the Severn Lower School took a field trip to the Upper School Campus. Under the guidance of Mrs. Smith, the Lower school students worked with engineering students on activities like building brush bug robots, completing circuits, and making soft, cold, and colorful snow. The Lower School students seemed to have a great time and this year Mrs. Smith plans to expand it to both the Severn and Annapolis campuses. Currently it is scheduled for Kindergarten through 2nd grade students but it may increase to include higher grade levels.

The money the school received would not have been possible without Mrs. Smith. Before coming to AACS, she earned her B.S. in Mechanical Engineering from Tuskegee University. With this she worked for Toyota and General Motors, primarily in seat engineering. Before becoming a stay at home mom, Smith was the lead engineer for the Corvette seats. Mrs. Smith began teaching at AACS after enrolling her daughter in the school in 2013. Since she has been here, our technology and engineering programs have been gradually improving over the years and this money will only serve to make things even better. It will be exciting to see what Mrs. Smith can accomplish with the grant.